The Brain Fitness Gym

Brain Fitness Gym

We will not know until I have completed my training on a brand new program (and renewed training on some older ones I have previously purchased and had sent to me).

Thanks to recent advances in research and technology, it is now possible for me to do some neuronal crunches for my fluid intelligence, or my working memory, or any number of other skills necessary to keep alzheimers plaque latent or to develop what researchers are calling "cognitive reserve" which will allow me to stay vibrant in my very senior years.

(Although I am 63, I guess the demographers classify me as a Baby Boomer, rather than a senior). However my knees feel very senior.

So for perhaps a decade or so, I have been watching what I will call Mind Technology develop, and I have been one of those self-help folks for a long time. My first self-help book was "Think and Grow Rich" by Nathaniel Hill, which I read in my youth, and did not understand then, but now I work hard on paying attention to my thinking and breathing, for example, to keep stress at a minimum.

I remember coming across Michael Hutchinson's book "MegaBrain" in the mid 1990's, and I tried out a number of those technologies, including EEG Biofeedback, which I am my partner, Jeremy Croyle brought into Jeremy's DUI business.

While involved with that technology, I began to use Open Focus, which is another biofeedback tool developed by Les Fehmi, and also a computer program called ThinkFast, developed by Dennis Campbell, I believe.

It was while I was involved with EEG Spectrum and their very vital list serve and community that I came across Rae Tattenbaum's work using EEG Biofeedback as a Peak Performance tool, and I did some training with her. Rae used a computer program called Brain Builder, which she apparently is now longer using.

I bought brain builder, but have not used it until just recently, many years later, because I have been using two of the tools Rae suggests in her work today, HeartMath and Open Focus.

But just recently there has been a PBS show which showcased the work being done particularly by Posit Science on "cerebellular crunches".

I might buy the programs offered by Posit Science, for example, which are expensive and involve my installing them on my computer, which provides ease of use, at my home, on my schedule, ect. but how will I get updates? Will that cost more money?

By the way, there is no online version of HeartMath or Open Focus available, but I heartily recommend buying both and using them. (See below). Imagine the volume of space around your heart....Imagery like that changes your brain wave activity to alpha or relaxed external focus brain waves and your hormonal bath changes from stress hormones to DHEA, that anti-aging hormone, in less time than a heart beat takes, and you can make this physiology and heart rate coherence and brain wave pattern a habit.

However, Norman Doidge, M.D., in his book "The Brain that Changes Itself-Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science' takes this brain gym thing to a whole new level.

Their are incredible developments ocurring in brain research which are making issues once thought untreatable treatable.

And there are discoveries about brain maps and mirror neurons, for example, which apparently are going to help a lot of people, so based on Doidge's work, I am going to experiment with some of the online tools, in particular the Lumosity brain training program because I can sign up online and practice online, for a small monthly fee. I will report back to you, and when I get the Posit Science program I will report on my progress too.

Would You Share Something That You Are Grateful For?

When I was beginning my personal growth journey, a wise person told me that when I was feeling resentful or afraid or sad, that I should remember the phrase "gratitude is the attitude" when I was ready to feel better. That phrase has helped me feel better tens of thousands of times.

Would you share what you are most grateful for? Your story could be just what another person is searching for to renew themselves? Thanks.


Have a question and want to talk with a therapist? Call 815-316-2621 for Julie Logan, LCSW, RN. 7121 Windsor Lake Parkway, Loves Park, Illinois 61111 jlogan7264@myway.com